The present invention relates generally to mobility enhancing devices and, more particularly, to a walking aid having a pepper spray dispenser. The walking aid may be a walking stick having a reservoir containing an eye irritant that may be used defensively to dispense an irritant such as pepper spray into the face of an attacking animal such as a bear.
Hiking in mountainous, woody, or rocky regions is often made difficult or even dangerous due to roughness or instability of the ground or rocky surface. Wearing hiking boots or other appropriate footwear is often considered essential in order to maintain safe footing while hiking. In addition, using a walking stick or other mobility device is often desirable to maintain a safe footing on unstable terrain. The walking stick is usually a generally straight pole and preferably includes a pointed end that lightly penetrates the ground in order to enhance balance and stability while walking on uneven or unstable ground. Another problem sometimes encountered by hikers in some geographical regions of the United States is an encounter with a grizzly or brown bear although such an encounter is still pretty rare. Most hikers would rather avoid contact with the ferocious animal or at least have a credible opportunity to scare the animal away or distract the animal long enough to escape.
Various devices have been proposed in the art for providing walking assistive devices, such as canes, having an irritant dispenser. The prior patents present slidable, spring-activated, and pressurized canister structures for causing an irritant to be expelled from a cane, nightstick, or the like, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,723, U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,601, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,957,750. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing devices do not provide a pressure regulated system for forcibly emitting a steady pressurized stream of irritant so long as a trigger is actuated. Further, the existing devices do not provide a structure in which a nozzle situated adjacent a lower end of the walking device is prevented from becoming plugged up. In addition, the existing devices do not provide a walking aid having a spear that is effective both as a walking aid and as a weapon against ferocious animals.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a walking aid that overcomes the limitations of the existing devices and prior patent proposals.